Friday, July 15, 2011

Chicago Day 3: The Swarthy Edition

After a late wakeup, we decided to skip the Architectural Walking Tour and head straight to Adler Planetarium. The planetarium sits on the far end of Museum Park, but we decided since the weather was nice, we would walk it anyway. Well, the nice, cloud-covered, breezy morning we begin with quickly turned into a beautiful, bright, sunny day. Not hot by Dallas standards, but then again, we commit to the heat only long enough to go from building to car A/C and back again. These folks jog in it and stuff. Crazy.By the time I dried off, we'd explored more than half of the planetarium.

When we finished, we decided we didn't want to short-shrift the Field Museum, so instead we headed to Navy Pier for our 2nd cruise of the coastline. We arrived a little early, boarded the upper deck, then waited...and waited...and waited, while broiling in the afternoon sun. (Mental note: pack handkerchiefs for dabbing one's brow in the summer.) The cruise took off and gave us a gentle breeze and 30 minutes of Chicago history. I cooled off enough to get a 2nd wind, so off we went to Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower). Our passes helped us cruise by the line to the elevator and the limited wait was filled with videos and trivia about the building. I loved this aspect of the pseudo tour because you're never idly bored in line because you have plenty information and videos to draw your attention. We took lots of pictures at the top and even stepped out on the glass balconies of the Skydeck (mildly scary when you think about the drop). We hit the giftshop next, then made one last stop of the day at the Macy's on State St.. Beautifully laid out and decorated,

this store is truly a sight to behold (and they had a SALE!!!)

By now, it was 8pm and hunger had set in, so we walked along State St., until we found a diner, where the food was hot and the price was right. Worn out from the day, we found the hotel and after showers, kicked back so we could be fresh for Saturday travel!